Evil at the Door

She still couldn't shake the previous night's dream. It was the same as always. First there was the howling. It was far more intense than the neighborhood dogs and then a knocking at the door. As she arose from the bed to look out the window, she noticed the heavy clouds covering the blood red moon. How odd the night sky seemed she thought to herself. The knocking was persistent, heavy, insistent and it drew her to respond. One glance at the clock turned her attention away from the dream and back to dressing for work. Maybe she'd talk to Mara and Jacquie about it at lunch.

The three of them were friends since their first day of kindergarten. Teachers called them the Triplets but they were each so different. Mara was a dreamer that believed in alternate realities, hunted for the seeds of truth in legends and often concurred that some things were mystical. It seemed logical that she should open a rare bookstore that sold many ancient books of spells. Jacquie had an analytical mind but preferred working with people more than numbers. She eventually settled into a major in psychology but approached that too with more logic than emotion. Liz was the screw up of the three. She never found her true calling and wandered from job to job.

"Say Sisters, sorry I'm late. I got a late start this morning and it threw everything off from there." Liz apologized as she sat down and quickly scanned the menu.

"So, what's his name? Had to be a night to remember to keep you from sleeping, and then oversleeping. You look like crap by the way." Jacquie retorted in her normal matter of fact tone.

"No man in my bed. Just the dream." The two young women knew exactly what she meant. The dream occurred over and over. It was always the same. First the barking, then the moon, then down the hall to open the door. As she tried to open the door, there was always the same soft voice from nowhere. "Don't open it. Don't let them in." At that point Liz always woke up, sweating, frightened and not knowing why.

"I think it's your subconscious telling you to face your fears. Your conscious mind doesn't want you to so it interferes with the process. You should force yourself to open the door and see what's behind it. It might be trying to tell you where your true talents lie."

"I don't know," Mara interjected. "Dreams are funny things. That voice in the background could really be a warning. I say forget about the door." At that point, the waiter appeared for their order and their attention turned to food.

The dream continued and Liz grew more weary with each night of interrupted sleep. "Jacquie is right, I've got to open the door and face my fears." She planted the thought firmly in her mind before she fell asleep.

Jacquie and Mara stood with Liz's parent in the hospital waiting room hoping for some type of reason when a young well-dressed man approached them.

"I'm Dr. Lawrence, the specialist for Liz. I'm afraid we have no answers. She's not in a coma, she's not asleep and yet, well she isn't here either. There isn't any response to outside stimuli. We simply don't have an answer. Maybe with time, she'll either return to normal spontaneously or we'll find the cause of the condition."

After consoling her parents, Jacquie and Mara left together. "I've got to get some sleep. It's been a long week for me and I'm exhausted." Jacquie must have been tired to admit to any type of human frailty.

"Me, too. I've got one of the gals filling in for me and after I close up, I'm going right home to bed."

Mara was about to close the bookstore when one of her favorite clients walked into the store. Mara only knew this ancient woman by her first name, Bea. She was, to say the least, one of the most unusual people Mara knew but also the most fascinating. "Welcome back, Bea. How can I help you tonight?"

"Tell me what you're eating so I don't have any of it. You look exhausted." For some reason Mara felt compelled to tell of her friend's plight.

"Sounds like soul eaters," Responded the old woman. "They come in dreams and try to get you to let them into your mind. Then, they steal your soul, you essence and leave nothing but an empty shell." As she spoke the thought of Liz's dream cut through Mara like lightening.

Jacquie arrived back at her apartment, too tired to wash and with barely enough energy to change her clothing. She climbed into bed and fell into a sound sleep. Suddenly, in her dream she heard the sound of howling outside her window. The moon outside was a blood red with ominous clouds covering it, producing an eerie glow. A heavy insistent knocking was at the door. Jacquie ambled to the door and then she heard Liz. "Let me in Jacque. Open the door and let me in."

She reached for the knob. From nowhere came a soft and haunting voice, "Don't open it. Don't let them in."